Masyado pang maaga para sabihin kung ang mga kaso ng coronavirus disease (COVID-19) sa Pilipinas ay nag-peak na, parehong posisyon ng Department of Health (DOH) at ng World Health Organization (WHO) nitong Miyerkules, Enero 12.

Naniniwala si DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III na ang bansa ay nasa “acceleration phase” pa rin ng COVID-19 surge.

Noong Martes, nakapagtala ang Pilipinas ng 28,007 kaso— bahagyang mas mababa kaysa sa naitala noong mga nakaraang araw. Sinabi ni Duque na ang "mababa" na bilang ng mga kaso noong Martes ay maaaring maiugnay sa mas mababang testing output.

“Premature. Kaya lang naman mababa kasi galing yan sa Sunday testing output, usually Sunday— mababa ang testing output kasi iba sarado, madami naka isolate dahil may symptoms, yung iba nag-quarantine because naexpose,” ani Duque sa Kapehan sa Manila Bay forum nitong Miyerkules.

72 PDL's ng Manila City Jail, naka-enrol sa PUP Open University

72 PDL's ng Manila City Jail, naka-enrol sa PUP Open University

“This is not an indication that the peak is over, we might still be in the acceleration phase of our surge,” dagdag niya.

Umaasa ang Health chief na ang bilang ng mga kaso ay magsisimulang bumaba sa lalong madaling panahon tulad ng nangyari sa South Africa.

“Like what happened in South Africa, mabilis tumaas, mabilis bumaba. Four weeks lang yun. I hope we follow the same trend or pattern,” sabi ng opisyal.

Sinabi ng WHO Country Representative sa Pilipinas na si Dr. Rabindra Abeyansighe na ang publiko ay dapat na "mag-ingat sa assessment at pagkakaroon ng mga konklusyon."

“It’s premature to say that we’ve reached the peak. We may still see an increasing number. We are carefully looking at how it is evolving in NCR and in the other regions. At this point in time, it is difficult, too premature to assume that we have reached the peak,” aniya sa isang public briefing nitong Miyerkules.

“What is critically important is, we reduce the opportunity for virus transmission by following the minimum public health standards by reducing close contacts, by early isolation and quarantining if you know that you are having symptoms and you have been a close contact— so that we minimize the opportunities for virus to spread, and this maybe will be able to reduce the transmission,” paliwanag niya.

Mga Nasawi

Ang DOH ay kasalukuyang inoobserbahan ang "bteer numbers" sa mga pagkamatay na naitala kumpara sa panahon ng Delta variant surge, ani Duque.

“It looks like the deaths now continue to go down, which is compared to Delta, this is a much….how should I put it….improved. Mahirap magsabi (It’s hard) when you talk about deaths….but at least the numbers are better,” ani Duque.

“The correct way to say it is that the numbers seem to be better. Tuloy tuloy ang pagbagsak dahil mas mababa ang (It continues to go down because of low) severe to critical cases, therefore preventing…hopefully lower hospitalization and deaths and that is what we are seeing,” dagdag niya.

Alert Level 4

Umaasa si Duque na walang lugar sa bansa ang isasailalim sa mas mahigpit na Alert Level 4.

“Alert level 4 hopefully does not happen anytime soon. But as I’ve said, the IATF is guided by our experts in the data analytics technical working group,” sabi ng health official.

“We hope that the hospitals, and this will also depend on local government units and private hospitals, to ensure that their capacities are really truly for the severe and critical,” dagdag niya.

Analou de Vera